Last week after an unexpected rainfall, residents parked in Rho Parking Lot walked to their cars to discover a flyer promoting a Malibu Inn event stuck to their windows. When they attempted to remove the laminated, wet flyer from the glass, one half of the sticker remained glued to their window. A walk through Rho today reveals many drivers have yet to successfully peel or scratch off the white residue.
An incident like this is not why Pepperdine dismissed Malibu Inn promoters from its campus with a cease-and-desist letter last November.
“I can confirm that the Malibu Inn was contacted last Fall requesting it refrain from distributing promotional material on campus,” wrote Senior Director of Public Affairs Jerry Derloshon. “A reply from Steven and Alexander Hakim respectfully noted our policy and said that at the time, the material in question was distributed by a third party without their knowledge.”
The third party in that case was Sicky Dicky Productions, an event management and concert promotion company based at the Malibu Inn.
But this time Diamond Lane Entertainment was held responsible for the flyers, attracting a negative response from both DPS and vehicle owners.
Staff at the Inn directed calls and complaints to Matt Diamond, head of Diamond Lane Entertainment. The Inn has two primary promoters for their nighttime events, Sicky Dicky Productions and Diamond Lane Entertainment. The two claim to be separate entities. In September they collaborated on one show.
Diamond could not be reached for comment.
Sicky Dicky formed in 2004, with Diamond as an original member of the crew. About a year after, he left the company to market in Los Angeles. He’s now returned under the Inn’s new ownership.
“Sicky Dicky is an LLC,” said Skylar Peak, an ’04 alumnus who is set to run for Malibu City Council this year. “ I have no idea what Matt is as far as a legit business.”
The Inn and co-founder of Sicky Dicky deny any involvement with the flyers. According to the co-manager of the Inn, no staff was involved or even aware that the promoter, Diamond Lane Entertainment, of the Feb. 10 event had placed flyers on campus cars. They also deny any letters being sent to the Inn in November.
“Basically it was a pretty certified letter that came to us, and it just said there was to be absolutely no promotion or marketing on their campus of any kind; no flyers, no posters, no promoters oncampus talking to people,” John Hildebrand, co-founder of Sicky Dicky, told the Graphic in November. “It said that if they kept seeing promotion on campus then they would have to take legal action.”
Peak called President Benton directly and apologized, according to Hildebrand.
“I have learned the Inn placed ads or flyers on windshields on campus which we don’t allow,” Derloshon wrote in November. “Skylar is friends with President Benton and the two exchanged notes about the flyers. Pepperdine does not have a ‘stance’ on the Malibu Inn per se.”
Overall, Public Affairs maintains that the university and the Inn’s relationship is a harmonious one.
Peak said he has been very stern about what goes out to Pepperdine since his immediate response to the university’s letter.
“We’ve patched that up,” said Hildebrand. “But now we have to be a lot more careful about how we promote. I don’t know how we’re going to get around it. This was never really an issue before the Inn closed.”
Hildebrand said that the Inn never technically told the promoters to go on campus and pass out flyers, but the assumption that those most interested would be college students drew them to campus.
He further lamented the serious lack of Pepperdine students involved in the Malibu nightlife.“It seems like the students would always go to Duke’s on Tuesday and then they would come here.” said Hildebrand of a time before the Inn closed. “This isn’t how it is anymore. I’m curious to know why. Do the students feel not welcome?”
Hildebrand said Sicky Dicky was in the dark with what next step they would take to promote their event to the students, an extremely large demographic in Malibu.
The marred windows have not necessarily given the Inn a bad reputation. Many students say this will not prevent them from ever frequenting the Inn as customers, but nonetheless, they were angered.
Freshman Joe Malkiewicz drove out of Rho Parking Lot with a fresh seal of white residue on his left window determined to get rid of any trace. He walked out of Taco Bell with a stack of napkins, soap and a cup of water. The supplies affixed the adhesive to the window even more. At the gas station across the street, Malkiewicz “went to town” on the glass with both sides of the squeegee. Finally, resorting to picking at the white stickum with his finger nails, Malkiewicz was able to clean parts of the sticker off. Pieces still remained in his window crevice that will most likely never come out, according to Malkiewicz.
“I give the Malibu Inn the stare down through my slightly blurred window every time I pass it now,” Malkiewicz said.
